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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28549080">August</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elymais/pseuds/Elymais'>Elymais</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vignettes [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Bilingual, Bilingual Character(s), Bilingual Dialogue, F/M, One Shot, Short One Shot, Slice of Life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:48:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>850</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28549080</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elymais/pseuds/Elymais</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>One cold, sunny day in August.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Character &amp; Original Character, Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vignettes [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072058</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>August</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He picked up the key and pressed the bright red button on the faded black fob. With a rattle, the security gate outside opened. "Ek gaan 'n rukkie uit," called Jay down the brick-laden hallway. "Gaan binnekort terug wees."</p><p>"Sounds good, liefde," Lotte answered from the other room. Her head popped out into the halway and she added, "Moenie terug huis toe kom sonder 'n bottel wyn nie — hierdie naweek wil ek graag onstpan."</p><p>"Sal ek," answered Jay as he exited through the front door and turned out the security gate. He pressed the button on the keyfob again, and the gate rattled shut behind him. In the distance, he could hear the traffic on the M5 Motorway as he turned left and up the hill onto 10th Avenue. Brightly coloured houses flanked the avenue as he made his way up the hill, crossing Naudé Street and bypassing the gargantuan church on his right. At De Beer, in the shadow of the Zaragossa Park Flats, he turned left again, crossed 9th Avenue, and entered the Plaza.</p><p>The once reasonably distant roar of the M5 was now upon him, amplified by the amphitheatre-shaped plaza. He stepped into the open doors of Pick and Pay. He stalled in the door, as the artificial light of the store's interior was near total darkness compared to the midday sun outside, even in midwinter.</p><p>When his eyes had adjusted, he took a look around. The bakery and its wares filled the entryway with a bready aroma. Gauzy white drapes kept the insects from the loaves. What had he come here for? Jay hadn't really an answer, so he meandered through the aisles in search of something interesting. There was little crowding today, for which he was thankful.</p><p>His final disposition, as many times before it had been, was the chips aisle. He scanned the shelves for anything novel, but found nothing, and instinctively reached for the Nik Naks. He flipped over the package and read over the ingredients without actually reading them to kill a few moments, then turned it back over to stare at the label for a bit.</p><p>Had he zoned out for a minute? A moment? A millennium? He hadn't any idea, but he realised that he was standing and staring at a bag of Nik Naks in the middle of Pick n Pay. He looked around, then ambled up to the terminal where a cashier was available. He stepped up and handed off the bag to her, and reached for the wallet in his pocket.</p><p><i>Beep</i>.</p><p>"Eleven Rand," said the cashier. Jay handed her a 50. She looked slightly put off, but she made the change. "Thank you," she said, and waved him off.</p><p>He exited Pick n Pay to the bright street, and was once again stunned in place by the change in lighting. He shuffled to the side of the footpath as not to obstruct while he was inexplicably incapacitated by the same sun he saw every single day.</p><p>His eyes fell upon the sign for Pick n Pay Liquor — a dingy annex attached to the side of the main store. He remembered Lotte's request that he pick up a bottle of wine, so he stepped inside. It wasn't as dark as the market, but the lighting was harsh and fluorescent, and glew against every bottle and goon bag in the store. He wasted no time going to the ice chest. Jay plucked bottle of domestic (and therefore cheap) Sauvignon Blanc and stepped up to the terminal.</p><p>The cashier typed up the price. <i>Ding</i>. "Fifty-eight Rand, my friend," he said.</p><p>"Christ," said Jay, counting out exact change and handing it over.</p><p>"Christ might be mighty," said the Cashier, "but I don't think he's going to lower the price for you."</p><p>Jay chuckled. "No, I don't suppose he will." The cashier bagged the wine and handed it off to Jay, who exited the store and began making his way back along De Beer Street. At 10th Avenue, he began his descent along the face of the ridge. The wind whipped through Naudé Street as he passed, lifting his coat tails and swinging the wine like a pendulum from his hand. Just a bit further down he ducked into the driveway of their house tucked back away from the street.</p><p>He fished his key from his pocket and pressed the red button, causing the gate to rattle to life once again and granting him access. Once he was through, he pressed it again and the gate reversed direction in motion, shuddering with a great metallic din as its mechanisms adjusted to the rapid change in orders.</p><p>The front door was ajar and a cigarette lay smoked to its hilt in the ashtray on the porch. He stepped inside and placed the wine and the bag of Nik Naks on the kitchen table. "Ek's tuis," he called out.</p><p>"Cool! Ek kom nou," Lotte's voice answered from the other room. Jay sighed and looked around the room. The August wind rattled the window panes to remind him of its presence, and summer's absence.</p>
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